rebranding the librarian profession

November 10, 2007 HLA Annual Conference 1

Rebranding the LibrarianProfession: A Project of the ALA Emerging Leaders Program

Annis Lee AdamsUniversity of Hawaii at ManoaJenny EmanuelUniversity of Central Missouri

HLA Annual ConferenceNovember 10, 2007

ALA Emerging Leaders Program

Leadership Training Project Selection Virtual Work Groups Poster Session

What is the ALA Emerging Leaders Program? Emerging Leaders began in 2007 as one of ALA

Immediate Past President Leslie Burger’s six initiatives.

The program enables newer librarians (< 5 years post-MLS) from across the country to: work on a small group project network with peers gain an inside look into ALA structure have an opportunity to serve the profession in a

leadership capacity

How we became ELs

Lee was sponsored by the Hawaii Library Association

Jenny was sponsored by the Missouri Library Association

Application included: Writing a personal statement Demonstrating employer support for us to attend ALA

Midwinter and Annual Conferences Providing a letter of recommendation Agreeing to commit to serving on an ALA committee

Prior to the 2007 ALA Midwinter Meeting We were emailed a long list of potential projects We ranked our top choices We were assigned to a project with a team of six

people: 3 academic librarians 1 young adult librarian 1 government agency librarian 1 systems librarian for a public library consortium

At the Midwinter Meeting

We had a day long leadership training with handful of different speakers

A working lunch where we made a workplan with our team about our project

Evening reception for networking with ELs and ALA folks

At ALA Annual Conference

Half day of leadership training Working lunch to set up posters Poster session with the findings of our

survey

Our Project

What are the options for rebranding the librarian profession in the digital age?

We decided to conduct a survey of library folk using Survey Monkey

Survey Objectives

Analyze current stereotypes of librarians Research options for rebranding the librarian

profession Question library professionals on the

perceptions of librarians and what a better image may be

Propose solutions for rebranding the librarian profession

Examples of Past Efforts at Rebranding

Ms. Dewey (search engine) Lipstick Librarian (blog) You Don’t Look Like a Librarian (blog) ALA Read Posters @ Your Library

Obstacles to Rebranding

Diversity of types of libraries and librarians makes it difficult to come up with a single brand

Librarians generally do not have marketing background

Lack of funding for marketing campaigns

Survey Methodology Survey had 13 questions distributed via

listservs, blogs, and AL Direct (ALA e-newsletter)

4 demographic questions: age, librarian?, education, employer

3 on library use 2 on perceptions of librarians 1 Likert scale with 10 general statements about

librarians 3 open-ended questions: describe the librarian

of the digital age, how to communicate about the profession, “only a librarian can deliver __ to__”

Results

Over 3400 responses

88.3% of respondents were librarians

Mostly academic (39.9%) and public (29.1%) librarians

Respondent Demographics

Respondents’ perceptions of librarians

How respondents ranked others’ perceptions of librarians

Librarians:

What 3 words describe the librarian in the digital age? Tech Savvy (687) Information/Informed (376) Knowledgeable (368) Flexible (317) Savvy (277) Innovative (262) Helpful (208)

Summary & Recommendations

The librarian community believes the current

public perception of librarians is “Book Expert,”

while we think of ourselves as “Research Experts.”

So, 3 suggestions of how to reposition ourselves in the public eye as the "ultimate human search engine" and escape the single-focused stereotype of "book worm“. . .

Recommendation 1

Design a media marketing campaign for television, radio, online outlets, and print that shows realistic, modern librarians doing the diversity of work within the profession.

Show librarians that are adaptable, cutting edge, helpful, hip, innovative, professional, and tech-savvy.

Promote the person, instead of the building. This will demystify the profession and entice

others to consider such a career. The librarian as an "Info-naut."

Recommendation 2

Rethink the library as a physical location. Bring the services librarians provide "out of the

stacks" and into the community. Create a "third space" that showcases library

services that are integrated into the physical and virtual community.

Librarians "taking to the streets" of both communities and cyberspace.

Recommendation 3

Network beyond the librarian profession and "infiltrate" other professional associations and publications.

Demonstrate the powerful skill set of librarians and the valuable contributions they can make to the success of all professions.

Librarians as keystone professionals in society like doctors and lawyers.

Our Project Team

Emerging Leaders: Our Experiences Pluses

Networking Working with young librarians wanting to move

librarianship forward Minuses

Did not learn much about ALA Lack of mentorship Little guidance in joining an ALA committee despite it

being a requirement of the program

Any Questions??

Thank you for attending our session!

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